Alexandria Black History Museum Announces Spring Film Line-Up

The Alexandria Black History Museum is continuing its partnership with SankofaSpirit to share the “Movies with a Mission” program with Washington, D.C., area audiences this spring. The screenings are held at 4:30 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month from Saturday, April 14 through Saturday, June 9, at the museum, 902 Wythe Street.

“Movies with a Mission” are free monthly films from and about Africa and the African Diaspora that seek to inform and inspire dialogue. Screenings will be followed by a discussion and gallery walk. Reservations are requested, as seating is limited. For more information or to make a reservation, please call 703.746.4356. The following films will be offered this spring:

April 14 – “Black Gold”

Multi-national companies have made coffee the second most valuable trading commodity in the world. But as westerners revel in designer lattes, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. Tracing one man’s fight for a fair price, Black Gold is an eye-opening exposé of the 80-billion dollar coffee industry. (78 minutes)

May 12 – “Slavery by Another Name”

Slavery by Another Name challenges one of Americans’ most cherished assumptions, the belief that slavery in this country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. The film tells how even as the institution of slavery came to an end in the South in 1865, thousands of African Americans were pulled back into forced labor with shocking force and brutality. It was a system in which men, often guilty of no crime at all, were arrested, compelled to work without pay, repeatedly bought and sold, and coerced to do the bidding of masters. Tolerated by both the North and South, forced labor lasted well into the 20th century. (90 minutes)

June 9 – “Banished: An Investigation into Ethnic Cleansing in Post-Reconstruction America”

How did three U.S. towns make African Americans disappear? Marco Williams, award-winning filmmaker of Two Towns of Jasper, visits some of the whitest counties in the country to confront the legacy of "banishment" – a wave of racial purging that tore through the South 100 years ago. Williams sits down with Ku Klux Klan leaders, white residents of these all-white communities, as well as descendants of the banished alike, opening the wounds of history. Will he help these communities heal? Is reconciliation or any form of reparation possible? (89 minutes)

Founded in 2002, Atlanta-based SankofaSpirit is dedicated to providing cultural and educational programs and services that focus on Africa and the African Diaspora. Through its programs and services, SankofaSpirit encourages people of African descent to reconnect with their great legacy. For more information, please visit www.sankofaspirit.com.

The Alexandria Black History Museum is located at 902 Wythe Street in the heart of the Parker-Gray Historic District and is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more about the museum and Alexandria’s rich African-American heritage, please visit www.alexblackhistory.org.